Man in fatal hit-and-run at LI gas station fighting extradition, DA says
Joshua Roston is charged in the killing of Pit Stop station manager Cemal Dagdeviren on Jan. 14. Credit: NCPD
A Baldwin man accused in the fatal hit-and-run of a gas station manager to avoid paying for a $22 fill-up is fighting extradition back to Nassau County, the office of the Philadelphia prosecutor said Wednesday.
Nassau's district attorney now must file formal paperwork to Philadelphia, making the legal case for extradition of the man, Joshua E. Roston, 33, according to Cameron Kline, a spokesman for the office of city prosecutor Larry Krasner.
"He's challenging Nassau County's ability to extradite him without a hearing," now scheduled for Feb. 27, Kline said.
Roston is charged in New York with murder, running over and killing Cemal Dagdeviren, 59, of Levittown, while trying to get away from a Pit Stop gas station in South Hempstead on Jan. 14, Nassau police have said.
Roston, who appeared Wednesday before Judge Benjamin Lerner of Municipal Court to oppose his extradition, is accused by Pennsylvania of being a "Fugitive from Justice," according to the criminal docket sheet.
He is being held in the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia; he could not be reached for comment.
Roston was represented by public defender Shirley J. Hickman, whose office did not return a message seeking comment.
According to a Nassau police account earlier this month, the altercation began early that Monday morning, when Roston pulled up to the full-service Pit Stop and sought a full tank. He tried paying with a fake credit card and, when challenged, got into his sport utility vehicle and accelerated. The manager put his hands on the hood to try to stop Roston, and was run down, police said.
Miriam Sholder, a spokeswoman for Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas, referred inquiries for specifics to counterparts in Philadelphia.
Jacqueline Vargas, who said she knows Dagdeviren's sons, said the family is in Turkey for his funeral.
"They brought the body to Turkey," she said Wednesday afternoon.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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